The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior on merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions.
In conventional database systems, users access their data resources in one logical database. A user of such a conventional system typically retrieves data from and stores data on the system using the user's own systems. A user system might remotely access one of a plurality of server systems that might in turn access the database system. Data retrieval from the system might include the issuance of a query from the user system to the database system. The database system might process the request for information received in the query and send to the user system information relevant to the request.
In certain circumstances, a user may desire access to data that is not necessarily available via the database system, but rather via an external service. To date, there is no effective way of allowing access to such external service data via the database system. For example, in the case where a network browser is used to access the database system, such network browser typically does not allow access to the external service via such database system. To this end, the user is forced to access the external service separately [e.g. using a separate window or interface, and a corresponding uniform resource locator (URL), etc.]. Unfortunately, this can potentially be more time consuming, etc. There is thus a need for addressing these and/or other issues.